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Battery Powered Tram Charges in 60 Seconds

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the streetcar-named-yokubou dept.

SK writes to tell us that a new streetcar, powered by lithium battery, has been invented by the Railway Technical Research Institute in Kokubunji, Tokyo. The new transport is capable of speeds of 40 kph for 15 kilometers and can convert 70 percent of its deceleration energy into electricity which is then sent back to the battery which can recharge in under one minute.

6 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. Sweet!! by iknownuttin · · Score: 2, Funny
    he institute will start conducting test runs in Sapporo at the end of November to check the streetcar's capacity.

    A street car that runs on Sapporo! Can you drink out of the tank! Oooo sushi bar in the back of the car, drink out of the tank, party train!

    Wait, it's 'in' not 'on'?!?

    Dammit! I just bought plane tickets. Shit.

    --
    I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
  2. Obviously... by locokamil · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... Sony will be lead supplier for the lithium ion batteries to power the vehicles, thus affording the industrial conglomerate an excellent opportunity to diversify into the burgeoning mass-traffic-explosion industry.

  3. Streetcar by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    a new streetcar, powered by lithium battery, has been invented by the Railway Technical Research Institute in Kokubunji, Tokyo. The new transport is capable of speeds of 40 kph for 15 kilometers and can convert 70 percent of its deceleration energy into electricity which is then sent back to the battery which can recharge in under one minute. I desire this streetcar.
    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  4. Charge a lithium battery in one minute? by ScrewMaster · · Score: 2, Funny

    Huh ... I didn't realize that Japan was getting back into explosives research.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  5. Re:Correct me if I'm wrong... by SnowZero · · Score: 3, Funny

    Do we need to travel to and from work everyday when all we do is manipulate information? No, for that job you live and work in the White House.
  6. Re:Trams are the wrong solution by leenoble_uk · · Score: 2, Funny

    You just gave me an idea.
    How about instead of making the tram brake every time it reaches the station, the station is itself a rolling road (rail) which runs at a constant speed just below that of the tram, enabling peeople to comfortably get on and off at slower than walking speed, but the tram never stops and is always travelling at a constant speed. When the tram reaces the end of the station it finds itself travelling back at full speed.

    Hey I'm just an ideas man, you work out the technology and safety implications and fix them yourself.